Traveling-bucket apparatus.



J. C. FRENCH.

TRAVELING BUCKET APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7. 1916.

1 231 $89., Patented July 3,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1'- I. C. FRENCH.

TRAVELING BUCKET APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. Z. 1916.

1,23 1 ,589 D Patented July 3, 1917..

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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JAME$ FRENCH, 0F KEN OSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB, TO FREDERICK C. AUSTIN,OF

' CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TRAVELING-BUCKET APPARATUS.

Application filed February 7, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. FRENCH, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and resident of Kenosha Kenosha county, Wisconsin, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in TravelingBucketApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My machine relates to traveling bucket apparatus in general, but moreparticularly to apparatus of this kind in which a bucket travels backand forth on a track or runway, T such as the swinging derrick arms, orbooms, employed by portable concrete mixing plants employed in pavingstreets. In apparatus of this general character, the bucket must receivea load, then travel outward on the track or swinging boom until itreaches the desired point of discharge. When this point is reached, theload is dumped, and then the bucket must travelback to receive anotherload.

Generally stated the object of my invention is to provide an improvedconstruction whereby the operation ofthe bucket to dump the load, aswell as for resuming the return thereof to carrying position, isaccomplished automatically through the medium of the lines which pullthe bucket in opposite directions, thus making it possible to merely'draw the loaded bucket to the place of discharge, and to then dump theload by merely I reversing the direction of. travel of the bucket, aswell as to then restore the bucket from its dumping position to itscarrying position before receivinganother load.

Another object is to provide an apparatus of this kind in which theconstruction is of such character that the said bucket may comprise twopivot sections which swing apart to dump the load, being what isordinarily known as a clam shell bucket, which is a, common type, forthe reason that the two halves of the bucket open and close at theirlower edges.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features ofconstruction and combinations tending to increase. the generalelficiency and desirability of traveling bucket apparatus of thisparticular character.

Specification of Letters Patent.

7 Patented July 3, 191W. Serial No. 76,512.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, my inventlon consists in mattershereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a travelingbucket apparatus embodying the principles of my invention.

. Fig. 9. is a detail sectional view showing the dumping mechanism inposition to keep the bucket closed.

Fig. 3 is a vertical-section on line 3--3 in Fig. 1.

As thus illustrated, my invention comprises a track or runway A of anysuitable character, and a traveler B having wheels 6 which travel onsaid track. The lower portion of the traveler has a swivel C whichsupports the bucket D, the latter being of the cla1n-shell type,comprising two halves of sections d which are pivotally connected at 1,in the usual and well-known manner. The straps or bars E are pivoted attheir upper ends on the rotary portion C of the said swivel, and attheir lower ends these straps or bars are .pivoted at e to the outersides of the two sections of the bucket. The plates 2 are pivoted at 3to the outer ends of the arms 4 which are rigid with the lower portion Cof the swivel, and the upper ends of the said straps or bars E arepivoted at 5 upon these plates. Chains 6 connect the lower ends of theseplates 2 with the pivotal joints 1 of the bucket, so that when thebucket is open, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1 the said chains serveto limit the separation of the two sections of the bucket at their loweredges. A post 7 extends upwardly from the frame of the traveler, betweenthe sides of the track, and is provided with a horizontally movableslide 8, the sliding movement of the latter being limited by the lengthof its slot 9 through which the pin 10 on the said post extends. A lineF is secured to one end of this slide 8, and a line G is secured to theother end thereof, these lines being operated in a suitable manner topull the traveler back and forth on the track, By reason of the slot 9,there is some lost motion, so to speak, and

the bucket will not start in eitherdirection until this lost motion istaken up by either line. A shaft 10 is mounted horizontally andtransversely immediately above the swivel; C, and arms 11 and 12 arelined on this shaft, the arm 11 having a longitudinal slot 13, and thearm 12 having its end provided with a roller 1 1; and alink 15 having aroller 16 is pivoted on the traveler at 17, said roller being disposedin the slot 13, and the pivotal point 17 being directly above the shaft10 and in the vertical planes thereof. The slide 8 is provided with apivoted dog 18 for engaging the upper end of the link 15, whereby thislink and the arm 11 are thrown into the position shown in Fig. 1 when apull. is exerted on the line F to reverse the direction of travel of thebucket. The arm 12 swings between the front and rear portions 19 and 20of the traveler frame, and may be limited in its movements thereby,although any other suit- 7 able means can. be employed for limiting therotation of the shaft 10 and the movements of the other parts. A chainH. connects the pivot-joint of the bucket with the upper end of the link15, this chain extending upward through the swivel C, which latter ismade tubular or hollow for that purpose, and the chain then passingupward in the manner shown in Fig. 1. In this way, when the bucket is incarrying position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the outward pullon the chain H does not tend to. throw the link 15 over and into theposition. shown in Fig. 1, for the reason that the weight of the arms 11and 12 and the link 15 is practically all at the other side of thecenter, as shown in Fig. 2, and for the further reason that the pull onthe chain is very nearly parallel with the link 15., whereby themechanism supports the bucket in carrying position.

The dumping operation is as follows: The bucket is pulled outward uponthe runway in loaded: condition. by the line G, and when the desiredpoint of discharge is reached the motion is reversed by a pull on theline F, so that the slide 8 moves forward and causes the dog 18 to pushthe arm 11 over the center, and the weight of the load then causes thechain H to pull the parts into the position shown in Fig. 1 thusallowing the bucket to open and dump the load. The bucket is then pulledalong by the line F until the roller 1e strikes the stop 21 on the underside of the track, and this pushes the roller 14 and its arm 12 backinto the position shown 1n Fig. 2, thus producing. an up ward pull. onthe chain H which closes the bucket. The bucket having received anotherload, a pull is then exerted on the line G to again draw the bucketoutward on the track, but the bucket does not start in this directionuntil the slide 8 reaches the limit of its motion relative to the post7, so that the parts are then in the condition shown in Fig. 2, thepivoted dog 18 having risen over the upper end of the arm 11 and thensettled into locking position thereon. In this posi; tion, the bucketand its dumping mechanism are in condition to again be operated by apull on the line F to dump the load by throwing the mechanism into theposition shown in Fig. 1, so. that the bucket will open and dischargethe contents thereof.

Thus the bucket, preferably a clam shell bucket, is automatically dumpedby merely and its dumping mechanism to the condition necessary forcarrying a load is then accomplished automatically by 'the final pull onthe line F, and the mechanism is then entirely restored by the pullwhich is exerted on the line G to. draw the bucket outward on the boomor runway A, thereby insuring the condition of said mechanism which isnecessary for dumping the load as. soon as the bucket reaches thedesired point of discharge and as soon as the travel this direction isdiscontinued and the initial. pull is exerted on the line F to reversethe direction of travel.

What I claim is my invention. is

1-. A traveling bucket apparatus comprising a track, a traveler on saidtrack, lines to pull the traveler back and forth on said track, a.bucket hung on said traveler, a dumping connection for said bucket, amovable element on said traveler to hold said connection in position forkeeping the load in, the bucket, a device operated by one of said linesto shift said element into dumping position when the motion of thetraveler device including, a. slide having. adog to engage the upper endof' said element.

a roller associated With said element, a shift- 3. The said apparatus(substantially as ing connection between said roller and eleset forth inclaim 1), said means including a pivoted arm having a longitudinal slottherein, and means on said element to slide .5 in said slot.

4. The said apparatus (substantially as set forth in claim 1), saidmeans including engage said roller.

Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 29th day of January, 1916.

JAMES C. FRENCH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

ment and a stationary stop on said track to

